Team stays hot during summer

     By Sean DeFrank
     View staff writer
      During the long, hot summer, depth is of prime importance to American Legion baseball teams.
      The Silverado Hawks have found out just how important.
      During consecutive tournaments in June, the team was without the services of its seniors one week and its juniors the following week. Even with the losses, the team still managed to win one of the two tournaments.
      With about 60 games this summer, Hawks manager Art Besser said each player on the roster has to be ready to contribute at any given time.
      "In the summer, we change everybody because we play so many more games," Besser said. "The depth is there. We have some good kids on the bench. They stay in the game when they're not playing and they stay alert. They know they're going to get to go in and they've got to be ready when they don't. É They know what the expectation is."
      Silverado began the season 23-0 following the team's first-place finish in the 16-team Prescott (Ariz.) Invitational. The Hawks went 5-0 in the tournament, even though the team was missing all of its seniors, who were in Cancun, Mexico, on a post-graduation trip.
      Despite the reduced roster, Silverado won its five games by a combined score of 80-11. Tournament MVP Jeremy West went 16-for-21 with three home runs in the five games, while second baseman Mike Eshragh went 16-for-19 in the tournament.
      "Our offense has been really strong," Besser said. "They've just been playing really good baseball. The hitting has been phenomenal."
      Pitching also contributed heavily to the tournament championship as Ken Clayton, James Wickman, Mark Lester, Robbie Van and Dan Murray all threw complete-game victories to help earn the title.
      Silverado then took part in the Joyce Stoker Memorial Baseball Classic from June 23-26 at Durango High. The team was again without the services of much of its roster, however the Hawks couldn't recapture the magic of the previous tournament.
      During the Stoker Classic, Besser was without seven of his juniors, including his entire infield. James and Joe Wickman, Van, West, Tommy Rojas, Joe Wickman, and Ryan Ruiz were all attending the Best of the West Showcase in Albuquerque, N.M., while Eshragh was out of town at a soccer camp.
      That left Besser with just 11 players for the entire week, and the Hawks went 2-3 in the six-team tournament, losing their first three games of the season. The fifth-place tournament finish gave the Hawks a record of 25-3 through June 27.
      Besser said one benefit of the reduced roster was that it allowed him to see what some of his lesser-used players could do when given some extended playing time.
      "You wonder how the kids who are reserve players (are going to do)," Besser said. "And they've all stepped up. They just filled in and it was like another set of starters. It wasn't like you were putting reserves in the lineup."
      Players such as Eric Neilson, Mike Welter and Bobby Morvay have benefitted from the increased playing time. Welter and Morvay, who will be juniors next season, have filled in admirably in the outfield, while Neilson filled in at right field during the Prescott tournament and at catcher in the Stoker Classic.
      Others, such as Joe Carque, Matthew Phillips and Julian Rios, have also filled in at different positions when needed.
      "It pays off for them in the long run," Besser said. "Playing different positions É just makes them better baseball players."